Security Guards Lose Jobs After Taking Photos With Tom Brady

The moral of this story you’re about to read is this: Know your employer’s policy about photos and adhere to it.

Here’s how it went down, per a piece we read on AOL Jobs. Two security guards, Joel Williams and Christopher Moore, at Reliant Stadium in Houston ran into Tom Brady on Sunday after his team defeated the Texans.

After talking with Brady, Williams told him, “Good game….You’re my favorite quarterback and all that good stuff.”

Then he and Moore asked the footballer if they could take a photo together. Although Brady seemed fine with it, per the piece, the Contemporary Services Corporation higher ups were less than pleased.

The employer released a statement to KTRK, the local station in Houston:

“It is strictly against CSC policy for its employees to request photos or autographs from players. CSC stands by its decision to terminate the two employees who violated this policy.”

Williams is a part-time guard and graduate student at Texas South University and explained to KHOU, “When you’re at your post and you’re doing your job, you’re not supposed to take any pictures with anybody because your job is to secure the area.”

There’s a shade of gray, apparently. A loophole, if you will.

“What happened was I was already relieved of my duty and that’s when I chose to take the picture.”

So maybe getting the ax was extreme? Not only wasn’t he on his shift, he was not previously warned or reprimanded by his employer for other pictures he’s taken with other people.

He’s attributing the firing to the fact the Texans lost. Here’s his explanation:

“I think it was three things: I think first of all, they were upset the Texans lost. I think second of all, because they lost in the fourth quarter. And then third of all, because it was Tom Brady.”

Maybe they were singled out? According to an interview Moore had with CBS Sports, he indicated colleagues have taken pictures and asked for autographs from players.

Regardless of their take on it, the fact of the matter is there was an employment policy in place. Whether or not it was previously enforced or overlooked is another story; in this particular instance the employer is standing by their policy.

And yes, we’re trying to present both sides here but maybe the policy is there for a reason since people have perhaps abused it, you never know. Just getting back to the lesson learned — know your company policy and do your best to abide by it or else you may be pounding the pavement searching for a new job.

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